By Elizabeth Larkin
Personal Organizing Exper, about.com
Sometimes in order to know what to store in your kitchen cabinets,
it is easier to start with what not to store in kitchen cabinets. Here
is a basic list of items either too bulky, too awkward, too frequently
used, or even too infrequently used to store in kitchen cabinets.
1. Serving trays. Unless
you are entertaining a household of 20-plus nightly, serving trays can
go into storage (I like a plastic storage bin) and retrieve right before
the party for cleaning. They are bulky and hard to fit into cabinets,
so it makes sense to store them offsite if you have limited space.
I store mine in the dead space above the refrigerator.
TIP: They can also be used as decoration.
2. Linens. Linen
napkins, fancy place mats and tablecloths can be moved to the linen
closet. No need to take up space and mix in fabric pieces with your food
and appliances.
TIP: If they must be stored in the cabinet, place them on the highest shelf so nothing drips or spills on them.
3. Appliances you never use. Popcorn makers, ice
cream makers, waffle irons -- if you use them, great. If you registered
for them and haven't touched them in 5 years, it is time to sell or
donate these appliances.
If
you are not ready to part with them (example: You registered for an ice
cream maker and plan to have children someday), store them offsite in a
storage space--like the basement or attic, or organized in a bin in a
closet.
4. Appliances you use daily. Move these
to your counter top. The few seconds it takes to grab them out of the
cabinet, un-wind the cord, and fit them back on the counter for use can
be better used.
5. Decor. Once again, unless you
are entertaining constantly, these can be stored in a labeled bin in a
storage space like your basement or attic.
6. Open food containers. I
try to keep most food in my pantry and my refrigerator. I keep a small
amount in cabinets, and I have found it is about a million times easier
to maximize the storage space in my kitchen cabinets if any food in
there is in a glass or plastic food storage container, preferably a
square one.
It is a pain to have to sift through bags of open food when you want the crockpot in the back of the cabinet.
I
recommend storing food like flour, sugar and coffee in the cabinet
because they are easily stored. Store the bags of chips and cereals for
the pantry so they are not making a mess.
7. Outdoor serving pieces. Move
these to your kitchen storage area with the aforementioned party decor.
Even if you have a large kitchen, you never want items you use
once-in-a-while crowding out items you use regularly.
